Assignment #1: Nursing Informatics Competencies

A competency is the capacity to use related knowledge, skills, and abilities that are essential to successfully perform critical functions in the work setting. Competencies are the foundation of skill standards that detail the level of knowledge, skills, and abilities required for success in the workplace. Nursing Informatic competencies provide the measurement criteria for assessing the capability of the nurse to function in the specific role.

Select one competency from each of the areas of knowledge, skills and attitudes in the table below. You will have a total of 3 competencies (one knowledge, one skill and one attitude). Make sure that you select a competency that is a self-assessed weakness, not one where you are already strong. You will create an education plan for yourself to improve your competency in the areas selected. This plan is individualized and will only pertain to your own knowledge development. The plan should include the competency, resources to help you improve your understanding, a timeframe for completion and how you would assess your knowledge growth in the area.

For example, if I needed to improve my attitude about protecting confidentiality of protected health information in electronic health records I could list web links from high quality resources that help me to understand why this is important. My timeframe for completion might be 6 months. I could assess my knowledge growth by evaluating my current area of practice for privacy issues I learned from the resources (such as listing the high volume and frequently missed privacy initiatives such as evaluating how long it takes for a screen to lock on the nursing unit computer) and/or volunteering to serve on a committee that relates to this topic (such as a EMR Nursing Committee).

Hints: Be clear about your points. Ive included a table (sample table below) that you may use by copying and pasting it into a new word document. If you choose to write it out, use headers for the competencies, resources, timeframe and self-assessment. This will help you when your work is graded.